Author / Leo Suarez

by Leo Suarez

Triangle Segway Moving Into City Market

This was an interesting find. Thanks goes out to Ginny From The Blog, a fellow blogeague, for letting me use her camera that night.

It looks like a Segway shop is opening up in City Market. I’ve seen similar shops in urban areas around the country and their main service is to rent out these two-wheeled contraptions. There currently are officers on segways in downtown and you can usually see them during large events. Are these the replacements for the horses?

I have never ridden one but I’m sure curiosity will take over, especially on a nice spring day, and I’ll give one a ride. Maybe one day we’ll have downtown segway tours like the one I saw in Washington DC.

by Leo Suarez

History: Geodesy In Raleigh

Take a look at the two pictures above. Do you see a connection maybe? If you think we need more stones, I agree with you. The stones are located on the southeast corner of Union Square, or near the corner of Wilmington and Morgan St. They were used to calculate the exact latitude and longitude of Raleigh. Here is what the plaque on this stone says:

Geodetic Survery Stones 1853-1854 Site used by U.S. Coastal and Geodetic Survey to measure the precise longitude and latitude of Raleigh by taking simultaneous readings of the positions of stars here and at locations in Richmond, VA and Charleston and Columbia S.C. A Temporary telegraph station was set up here to communicate with the other sites.

I had to look up what Geodesy was and here is the definition from dictionary.com:

the branch of applied mathematics that deals with the measurement of the shape and area of large tracts of country, the exact position of geographical points, and the curvature, shape, and dimensions of the earth.

I did a little research because I was interested in the tech used to accomplish this in the 1850’s. It turns out the telegraph was patented in 1837 by Samuel Morse, the man behind Morse code, and the following years after that, the technology was improved and used on a wider scale.

Interesting stuff. If anyone can add to this, please feel free to comment. Look for these stones next time you are walking around the Capitol.

by Leo Suarez

Rows of Shops Might Be Destroyed, Do You Care?

The shops shown in the picture above may be lost to a tower being built on this block. Nothing new to report here but for some background information on this topic, go back to this post. The shops look like they have been around for awhile. The Hillsborough St. bridge construction a couple years ago really hurt the businesses here and I do not think they have recovered. They have either moved or closed shop. There is little activity here and pedestrian traffic is almost dead.

I’d like to get some opinions from the readers. Are these shops worth saving/revitalizing or would you like to see something tall with ground floor retail?

by Leo Suarez

Moore and Nash Need A Haircut

While downtown Raleigh continues to go through a sort of ‘urban renaissance’, there may be some elements that are overlooked. We all love tall buildings and the convenience of being close to everything but, where in all this density is there any room for parks and open spaces for us to relax in? Moore and Nash square are our tickets for just that, but as downtown changes I believe that the squares need to change as well.


Moore Square


Nash Square

To get more people to spend time inside our open spaces they need to be more inviting and currently Nash and Moore are not quite the best hosts to visitors, Nash especially. At a comprehensive plan presentation I went to a couple weeks ago, they touched on the layout of the two squares. A big detail that was mentioned that I never thought of before was that there are too many trees. Sounds odd right? If you think about it though a public square is more inviting if you can see all the way through it. It is even better if you can see buildings above the trees and street activity while being anywhere inside the space.

I went to visit Philadelphia in March 2007 and when recalling the trip, I remember that we spent some time around Rittenhouse Square, one of the city’s urban parks. (map) It has become one of the city’s most desirable areas and the park is a great example of what Raleigh should strive for. There is a great combination of pedestrian elements, like benches, wide sidewalks, statues, and fountains, mixed with nature. The trees do not overpower visitors or give anyone a slight sense of claustrophobia. Sunlight still comes through during the day while city and building lights brighten the space at night. Here is a picture I took during the trip.


Wintertime, so no leaves, but use your imagination

I really believe that Nash and Moore need to get a haircut. Even with the leaves gone, Nash square is still a rat’s nest of vegetation. The picture above will show you that you cannot see through the square and being inside can feel a bit crowded. Moore square does a better job but could still use some work. This may be a touchy subject but in the end, I believe it will get a lot of support because of the idea of preserving open spaces. Our two downtown spaces need a makeover and I’m not afraid to say it but many branches and some trees may have to get the ax.

by Leo Suarez

Sono Now Open On Fayetteville St.

The space next to the WTVD studio on Fayetteville St. has now been taken over by Sono, downtown’s newest sushi restaurant. The owner and I shared a couple common interests; we both are not into sushi and are excited about being downtown. The food seems to speak for itself however. I was out last Friday with a group of Campbell law students and they all gave the sushi two thumbs up. Make sure to check out their website if sushi is on your mind this weekend.

by Leo Suarez

RBC Deck Facade Does Not Impress

The RBC Deck is being built pretty fast so of course, we already need another update. The construction has topped out and now reached Blount St. At the current pace, this end of the deck will probably be done before April. There is enough of the brick facade up that we get an idea of what we are going to see. I’m really not too impressed but looking at all the other city decks around downtown, should I really expect something great?

This end of the deck has some advantages from what I can see. Blount St. is a one way street and this may prove favorable with traffic flow as cars can only take right turns into and leaving the deck. At first I was shocked at how wide the stairwell was but I’m going to guess there will also be an elevator. The center space will be for RalCon offices retail and in my opinion this is not a bad spot to set up shop. City Market and Moore Square are just across the street and there is no reason to complain about parking here with 1500+ spaces right above.